Name

The Surah is so designated after the word wal-fajr with which it opens.

Period of Revelation

Its contents show that it was revealed at the stage when persecution
of the new converts to Islam had begun in Makkah. On that very basis
the people of Makkah have been warned of the evil end of the tribes of
Ad and Thamud and of Pharaoh.

Theme and Subject Matter

Its theme is to affirm the meting out of rewards and punishments in
the Hereafter, which the people of Makkah were not prepared to
acknowledge, Let us consider the reasoning in the order in which it
has been presented.

First of all, swearing oaths by the dawn, the ten
nights, the even and the odd, and the departing night, the listeners
have been asked: "Are these things not enough to testify to the truth
of that which you are refusing to acknowledge?" From the explanation
that we have given of these four things in the corresponding notes, it
will become clear that these things are a symbol of the regularity
that exists in the night and day, and swearing oaths by these the
question has been asked in the sense: Even after witnessing this wise
system established by God, do you still need any other evidence to
show that it is not beyond the power of that God Who has brought about
this system to establish the Hereafter, and that it is the very
requirement of his wisdom that He should call man to account for his
deeds?

Then, reasoning from man's own history, the evil end of the Ad
and the Thamud and Pharaoh has been cited as an example to show that
when they transgressed all limits and multiplied corruption in the
earth, Allah laid upon them the scourge of His chastisement. This is a
proof of the fact that the system of the universe is not being run by
deaf and blind forces, nor is the world a lawless kingdom of a corrupt
ruler, but a Wise Ruler is ruling over it, the demand of Whose wisdom
and justice is continuously visible in the world itself in man's own
history that He should call to account, and reward and punish
accordingly, the being whom He has blessed with reason and moral sense
and given the right of appropriation in the world.

After this, an
appraisal has been made of the general moral state of human society of
which Arab paganism was a conspicuous example; two aspects of it in
particular, have been criticized: first the materialistic attitude of
the people on account of which overlooking the moral good and evil,
they regarded only the achievement of worldly wealth, rank and
position, or the absence of it, as the criterion of honor or disgrace,
and had forgotten that neither riches was a reward nor poverty a
punishment, but that Allah is trying man in both conditions to see
what attitude he adopts when blessed with wealth and how he behaves
when afflicted by poverty. Second, the people's attitude under which
the orphan child in their society was left destitute on the death of
the father. Nobody asked after the poor; whoever could, usurped the
whole heritage left by the deceased parent, and drove away the weak
heirs fraudulently. The people were so afflicted with an insatiable
greed for wealth that they were never satisfied however much they
might hoard and amass. This criticism is meant to make them realize as
to why the people with such an attitude and conduct in the life of the
world should not be called to account for their misdeeds.

The
discourse has been concluded with the assertion that accountability
shall certainly be held and it will be held on the Day when the Divine
Court will be established. At that time the deniers of the judgment
will understand that which they are not understanding now in spite of
instruction and admonition, but understanding then will be of no avail.
The denier will regret and say, "Would that I had provided for this
Day beforehand while I lived in the world." But his regrets will not
save him from Allah's punishment. However, as for the people who would
have accepted the Truth, which the heavenly books and the Prophets of
God were presenting, with full satisfaction of the heart in the world,
Allah will be pleased with them and they will be well pleased with the
rewards bestowed by Allah. They will be called upon to join the
righteous and enter Paradise.